One Night Only!

Warning, shameless plug.

A few weeks ago, Mo was good enough to invite me to participate on a panel about web analytics at the upcoming Oregon Governor's Conference on Tourism. And I was more than happy to accept. Those folks in Oregon need to listen to me more.

So, if you are going to be in the Portland area April 6-8, stop by and say hello. Or, even better, sign up and attend the Oregon Governor's Conference on Tourism. Mo and I are speaking on the 7th, with the always charming Paul Wille from opus:creative.

Details

Where:
Palace Hotel Ballroom, I mean, Red Lion Hotel on the River

When:
Sunday, April 6 to Tuesday, April 8

Web:
http://www.oregontourismconference.com/

About:
Analyze this…Analyze That! A Conversation on the Maddening Science of Online Analytics

See you in Portland.

Escape Old London's Most Feared Prison — Guided by GPS

Through a thick drizzle I gaze at the ominous gray stone buildings of the Tower of London, England's most notorious prison. I wander from one to the next, trying to imagine what it was like to be held captive here hundreds of years ago. That's when I hear a ghost. "Psst, you there... I'm sentenced to die tomorrow morning. Please, I beg you, can you help me escape?" >>Full Story

Thoughts// A fascinating story from Wired touting the latest tour at the tourist-filled Tower of London. As the article discusses, the Tower of London with assistance from HP, launched an (truly) interactive tour based upon some of the more famous prisoners and their escapes from the Tower.

As part of the tour, visitors receive a PDA, a GPS unit, and a radio transmitter. Then, as tourists walk through the historic grounds they are prompted to join in the virtual adventure when they enter certain rooms or locations. Once the game has started, players must visit certain locations within the Tower to help their prisoner escape (Ranulf Flambard, Bishop of Durhma, pictured). As the article says, the idea of the program is to surround the visitor with an experience, rather than just reading various plaques and signs.

Not only is this a great program for the Tower of London, but it begins to make you think about what other well-known (and possibly well-visited...read, I have seen it before) attractions could benefit from such an interactive experience.

YellowstonePark.com, Wikitravel Win Webby Awards

The Webby Awards, an international award ceremony honoring the best of the Internet, was held in New York City from June 3-5. What have been called the "Oscars of the Internet," the Webbys are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. The body is made up of 550 members, including leading Web experts, business figures and creative celebrities.

Here are the winners and nominations from the Tourism and Travel categories:

Tourism:
Webby Award Winner
YellowstonePark.com (http://www.yellowstonepark.com)

People's Voice Winner
YellowstonePark.com (http://www.yellowstonepark.com)

Nominees
Sydney Wildlife World (http://www.sydneywildlifeworld.com)
Tourism New Zealand (http://www.newzealand.com/travel)
Tourism Australia (http://travelaustralia.ninemsn.com)
Vail Resorts: Resort Explorer (http://www.snow.com/resortexplorer)
YellowstonePark.com (http://www.yellowstonepark.com)

Travel:
Webby Award Winner
Wikitravel (http://wikitravel.org/)

People's Voice Winner
TripAdvisor (http://www.tripadvisor.com)

Nominees
Expedia.com (http://www.expedia.com)
Gods of Chinatown (http://gods.tenement.org)
Kayak.com (http://www.kayak.com)
TripAdvisor (http://www.tripadvisor.com)
Wikitravel (http://wikitravel.org/)

Thoughts// Needless to say, AOT will be entering the Webby Awards in 2008. A 'webby' would look very nice in the conference room.

Travelers Go and Tell, Tourism Sites Show and Sell

The Internet has made the world a smaller place, and perhaps no category has felt that impact as much as the travel industry. Some 83% of people who travel are Web savvy compared with 71% of the general public, and by 2010, about nine in 10 travelers will conduct their search and trip planning via the Internet, per Forrester Research, Cambridge, Mass. >>Full Story

Thoughts// A good article from Brandweek which talks about UGC strategies that Florida, Las Vegas and Hawaii are either implementing or researching. The overall trend from Florida, Hawaii and Minnesota’s UGC offering is allowing users to post positive stories about their favorite places within a destination (such as Hawaii). It would appear that each of these DMOs believes that allowing users to post anything they like (i.e. negative stories) is too great a risk. However, it will be telling to see if users will still respond to this type of UGC offering or if they will simply not post on sites that maintain a certain level of control.

It is also interesting to note that so many major DMOs, such as Hawaii and Las Vegas are still researching and looking at ways to effectively incorporate UGC into their sites.

Lonely Planet Launches Video, Social Networking Site

Travel media company Lonely Planet has launched LonelyPlanet.tv, an online community marrying professionally created video programming with a hearty dose of user-generated videos, blogs, forums, ratings, booking services, and other travel-centric applications. Advertisers are being sought. >>Full Story

Thoughts// Lonely Planet has partnered with Reality Digital using their ‘Reality Digital Opus’ platform to host, manage, upload and share videos on the new site. Reality Digital, along with Brightcove, are two options that we have also been monitoring and evaluating. We will also keep an eye on the Lonely Planet site to gauge participation and interest levels in the new product.